ACA, crime, same-sex marriage dominated September news

A weeks-long murder trial, a firefighter charged with arson and same-sex couples obtaining marriage licenses in Pennsylvania dominated the news in Bucks and Montgomery counties in September.

That's not saying that some national issues didn't hit home during that month. Take the Affordable Care Act, for instance. The newspaper published a multipart series on the ACA, known by some as "Obamacare." The series explained some of the nuances of the law through the eyes of local people and what individuals and businesses needed to do to comply.

Bucks County's congressman, Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, voted 42 times against the ACA, the major policy achievement of President Barack Obama.

The debate over the law continues. It was the initial reason the federal government shut down briefly. And when the law went into effect, access to the government website to sign up for the program or even to research options hit lots of snags. The site didn't work for many, and the president later apologized. Problems with the website were later corrected.

At the local level, one of the biggest stories of the year was a Commonwealth Court judge's order that Montgomery County Register of Wills D. Bruce Hanes stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

The Corbett administration and others criticized Hanes for ignoring the state law that says a marriage must be between a man and a woman. Hanes had been issuing the licenses since July, just after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which banned marriage between members of the same sex and state Attorney General Kathleen Kane decided not to defend Pennsylvania against a federal lawsuit challenging the state’s ban on such marriages.

Hanes, who had been backed by the county solicitor and Democratic county Commissioners Josh Shapiro and Leslie Richards, appealed that ruling. The case continues to move through the state courts.

Another court case, this time in Bucks County's Court of Common Pleas, revolved around the murder of a popular Levittown musician.

It was the second phase of the case against five young people charged with murdering Danny DeGennaro.

DeGennaro, 56, was well-known in the local music scene and played guitar with national acts, such as Bo Diddley and Billy Squier. Prosecutors say he was targeted for robbery because it was believed that he had cash and drugs in his home in the Crabtree neighborhood of Bristol Township.

Amid the weeks of autopsy reports, text message evidence, wiretap transcripts and cellphone records, defense attorneys for gunmen Breon Powell and Kazair Gist did their best to turn the case upside down. Two co-conspirators, who pleaded guilty earlier in the year, testified against Powell and Kazair.

Then, when a neighbor took the stand and brandished a printed-out Internet page purporting to be an “Ebonics guide,” the case got wild.

“Do you have a stereotypical view of African-Americans? What is your view of African-Americans?” Powell’s attorney, Robin Lord, demanded.

Racism was a continuing, underlying issue in the case. DeGennaro was white and all five defendants are black.

The trial for the pair lasted until October. Both were convicted. Powell received a life sentence; Gist was sent to state prison for 52 to 104 years. Lighter sentences were handed down against two women who participated in the robbery-turned-murder, but later cooperated with investigators and testified against Powell, Gist and co-conspirator Jermaine Jackson. Jackson, who was convicted earlier in the year, was also given a life sentence.

Winding its way through the court system now in Bucks County is an arson case against a former firefighter and his cousin, a probationary firefighter. Both were charged in September with setting several blazes in Upper Bucks earlier in the month, including one that destroyed 850 tons of hay valued at nearly $100,000 in Richland and another that destroyed an abandoned factory in the middle of Sellersville.

Adam Weaver, 20, of Sellersville, and Cody Wagenseller, 18, of Perkasie, remain in prison awaiting trial. Police said that the pair was caught when officers followed up on a tip that a suspicious vehicle was seen in the area of the abandoned building shortly before the Sept. 11 fire. The driver was Weaver, police said.

When confronted, Weaver admitted driving Wagenseller to several of the fires, according to court records. Wagenseller admitted that both men attempted to start the fire in the abandoned building, police said. Both men were also connected to several area trash bin fires, according to police.

In Morrisville, police and borough officials were told that drastic changes are needed in their department to avoid "some type of tragedy or catastrophe.”

Morrisville's council hired Newtown Township’s Cornerstone Consulting Services to look into the department. The company returned with a 3,200-page report detailing a decade’s worth of police department activities, borough officials have said. The report hasn't been made public.

But Frederick DeVesa, who served as the borough’s interim police director for two weeks before abruptly resigning because of what he said was a lack of cooperation, wrote a 12-page report highlighting the department’s inefficiencies.

The police department lacks professionalism, firearms are poorly administered, officers are left unsupervised, crime evidence isn’t promptly documented or handled, and the police building is poorly secured, according to DeVesa’s report, which isn't related to the Cornerstone report.

Steering away from crime and onto another track, SEPTA announced plans in early September to use a $10-million federal Department of Transportation grant to add railroad tracks in Bucks County. The money will be used to create separate tracks for the SEPTA passenger service and CSX freight lines, which previously shared a 6-mile stretch of the West Trenton Line. That sharing caused congestion and delays on the railways and roadways at grade crossings.

“The federal funds awarded to this project will allow SEPTA to construct its own stretch of track in the area, separating the two lines and allowing both SEPTA and CSX to improve their service,” Congressman Fitzpatrick said. “The project benefits travelers, businesses and the region by increasing connectivity and allowing for station upgrades.”

September wasn’t all big politics, crime and transportation. There were some human interest stories too. A raccoon jumped a dog in Warminster; Bucks County bought 11,000 influenza vaccine doses; Bristol passed an ordinance protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons from discrimination; and a $2-million lottery ticket was sold in Lower Southampton.

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